No.218A
is a 2-8-2 freight locomotive supplied to the Queensland Railways during
World War 2 as one of 20 'AC16 class' locomotives. It was built by the
Baldwin Locomotive Works in the USA during 1943 to a standard US wartime
design and made available under 'lend-lease' finance. These
wartime locomotive were known as 'MacArthurs' and identical engines were supplied
to metre and 1067mm-gauge lines in India, Greece, Malaya and Thailand as part of the war effort,
where
some remained at work until the late 1980's.

The 'A' in both the class
designation (AC16) and the number (218A) stands for 'American'. 'AC16 class'
thus differentiated these locomotives from the earlier C16 class, and since the
engines retained their original US Army numbers, '218A' differentiated the
engine from another Queensland Railways locomotive already carrying the number 218.

218A
received a new boiler in 1960 together with the tender from C-17 No.718
during an overhaul in 1960. 218A spent most of its working life at
Rockhampton and was the last of the Queensland Railways AC16 class in
operation when withdrawn from regular service in May 1969. It was
subsequently purchased for preservation and arrived at the Zig Zag
Railway in 1975.

218A is
yet to work on the Zig
Zag Railway but has been intermittently under restoration in the depot, with
work completed to date including re-tubing the boiler and a new tender
tank constructed and fitted. This photo show 218A outside the Bottom
Points depot in 1986,
stripped down and painted in primer during
the early stages of its restoration.

In August 2006 the Zig Zag
Railway launched the 218A Restoration Appeal. Rather than use my own
words, here is are two excerpts from David Potter's article in Railway
Digest for September 2006 announcing the 218A Restoration Appeal (used
with David's permission):

"This is not your normal
Restoration Appeal. It is an appeal to restore a locomotive to
fulfil a dream of a 21 year old Zig Zag member who tragically lost his
life in a terrible accident in 2005. It is an appeal to provide a
lasting and fitting tribute to this dedicated young man, who was
described by all who knew him as one of nature's gentlemen. The
young man was Brian Rieseberg."

Following a successful fundraising

and restoration program, 218A returned to
operation on 3 September 2008 when it ran its first trip to Top Points &
return. The restored 218A carries special significance to Zig Zag
Railway members and friends in memory of Brian.

My visit to
the Zig Zag Railway on Saturday 28 August found 218A as the service
loco, and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon bushwalking and
photographing her as she very capably handled 4 cars up the 1:42 grades.